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My dog eats late. How to adjust his feeding for better potty training?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

How can I adjust the eating time of my poodle because he seems to eat at midnight. This is very hard for me to control his toilet time. So can you give me any suggestions to this issue? Thank you

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Ana M, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on June 7th, 2018

Thank you for submitting your question regarding your dog. A dog will typically have a bowel movement 20-30 minutes after eating a meal. So I usually recommend feeding two meals per day, one in the morning and one in the evening. This will give you time to get him outside to go to the bathroom before you need to leave for work or go to bed. If he is used to free feeding, it can take a bit of time to make this transition. Put the food down for 15 minutes in the morning and let him eat. Then give him another 15 minutes to eat in the evening. Soon he will realize that he needs to eat during these time or the food will go away. I hope this information helps!

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